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PreDeparture
Preparing for the Program Assess your community. Before you depart from your home country, please collect information about issues in your community, environmental, education, or otherwise. Think about the things that impact the well-being of all people and wildlife at all levels. While you are here, you will use this information to create a plan for service to your community. Dress warmly. While you are here, you may be doing service and activities outside. While April weather can be warm to people here, it will certainly be chilly for you. Spring weather can be very unpredictable, but expect to be cold. Bring gloves and warm clothing you can layer—like t-shirts, hoodies, and jackets. We have winter coats to loan, but they are not very fashionable and may not fit nicely, so bring your own if you have them. Cultural Presentations. With your country group, choose an activity which you enjoy and which represents the culture of your country or region, which you will present at the library visit, culture night, and at schools in Illinois. The presentation should allow you to interact with your audience, not only show them something, but potentially involve them. This activity should be brief and participants should be able to complete the activity in less than 5 minutes. Know your country, know yourself. It is suggested that participants prepare to share their culture in various ways with their host families, fellow students, and others they meet. Often participants bring small gifts to share with others and/or come prepared to share foods from their country. Many of the people you meet will be interested in the history, culture, economics, religion, and politics of your countries and Americans are very frank and open about discussing such topics, so it is useful to be prepared to answer questions and to know what subjects you are or are not comfortable talking about. It is okay to say you do not want to talk about something. Peer mentors. Adult participants can expect to meet with educators in the US and experience the classrooms here. If you have a topic you are interested in, feel free to prepare some questions to ask. Some things which are important to consider as you prepare for your trip: Be prepared to try new foods. If you come with a restricted diet, we will do our best to provide options which are reasonable and safe for you. For example, each meal will include vegetarian options. However, due to our location, there are not many halal meats available. On the other hand, restaurants typically do not use lard (pig fat) in cooking, but instead use vegetable based oils. If you are concerned about the use of pig products when dining, you can inquire with staff. Be aware of baggage charges when you are returning to your country. Many past participants were required to pay extra bag fees or overweight charges at the airport. We will try to assist participants in finding the weight of their bags before leaving DeKalb. Movies should not be your source of correct language while you are here. It is not appropriate to use words like “shit,” “fuck,” or “bitch” in common language, especially within your host families, during school visits, or in program sessions. These words are still considered rude and offensive by many Americans. Additionally, words that degrade any person based on their race, gender, sexual orientation, or abilities will not be tolerated during the program.